


Time is everything

by mountain_spiderling



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: A late birthday fic for my son Peter so we can celebrate together, Fluff, Gen, HAPPY VERY LATE BIRTHDAY PETER, How Do I Tag, I honestly don´t even know what I was thinking, ITS MY BIRTHDAY IN 20BITEEEN IM SORRY BUT I MAKE THE RULES TODAY YEEEEET, IT´S MY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYY, MWHAHAHAHA, So hopefully you´ll have fun reading it, WE LOVE YOU SPIDEY, back at it again with the fluff, but oh well, i had a lot of fun writing this, whoooo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 07:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mountain_spiderling/pseuds/mountain_spiderling
Summary: But Tony knew the kid. He knew he could give Peter a bag of old lady candy and the kid would look at him like he`d just handed him all the stars (and the moon. and the planets) in the universe instead. He didn`t want to overwhelm the kid under a pile of expensive presents and leave it at that. No, he wanted whatever he gave him to really be meaningful, to really show he…alright, he cared. He wanted Peter to know he cared.orMy birthday fanfic to Peter 20biteen because today is my birthday and I get to make the rules today yeee





	Time is everything

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!!  
aND WELCOME to my extremely self-indulgent birthday fanfic for Peter. I wrote this at the same time I wrote my last fic and I thought about releasing it on the same day as Pete´s actual birthday but then I just thought "Nah, I´ll just try to improve it and release it on my birthday instead so we can both have our birthday´s that day" and I did!!! So this is a present from me to me because I love our WONDERFUL PETER AND I WANTED HIM TO BE HAPPY TODAY TOO :DDD  
Hope you enjoy!

Tony`s internal struggle only lasted for about an hour before he gave in and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey May”

“Tony? Is everything okay? Did something happen?”

Tony felt his mouth pull up into a smirk. “Y`know, I`d usually be offended that`s someone`s first reaction when they hear my voice on the phone, but considering how often I`ve called you over something related to your nephew this week alone I`m prepared to let it slide”

He could practically hear May`s relieved amusement when she scoffed. “Please, Stark. This is Peter we`re talking about. If I wasn`t worrying about him 24/7 then there really would be something to be worried about”

_I know the feeling_

“What can I help you with?”

Ah. Now here came the part Tony had been struggling with ever since he`d looked at Pete`s passport and realized what date was fast approaching. He`d been more than a little reluctant to ask May for help, but he was seriously in the dark right now, which was frustrating.

A small part of him thought the answer was simple. He probably had more than enough money to buy the kid a lifetime`s worth of literally whatever he wanted! Hell, he should just ask the damn kid himself and be done with it, easy as that. No use trying to tip toe around the issue and keep worrying about it.

But Tony knew the kid. He knew he could give Peter a bag of old lady candy and the kid would look at him like he`d just handed him all the stars (and the moon. and the planets) in the universe instead. He didn`t want to overwhelm the kid under a pile of expensive presents and leave it at that. No, he wanted whatever he gave him to really be meaningful, to really show he…alright, he cared. He wanted Peter to know he cared.

But “Tony Stark” and “caring”, he knew, where three words that didn`t belong in a sentence together. Hence him debating whether to ask May for help or not.

“Tony? You still there?”

“Right!” Tony cleared his throat and tried to make his voice sound like the very idea of nonchalance. “Well, I was looking through the kid`s archives and found out his uh his birthday’s coming up soon? And I was just wondering you know, if you had any sort of plan on what you`re giving him…or anything?”

There was a pause at the other end of the line. “Are you…oh my god are you seriously asking _me_ to give you advice on what you should give my nephew for his birthday!?”

oOkay, so nonchalance didn`t work on May Parker. Noted.

May laughed at Tony`s floundering attempts to make up a reasonable response to that on the spot, but it wasn`t unkind laughter.

“I just mean if it`s the kid`s birthday then I should probably- internship stuff and all you know-“

_Darn it Stark. You had one job…_

He sounded so lost even May felt a little sorry for him, and her laughter faded eventually. Her voice still sounded amused and a little disbelieved when she spoke next, but it´d taken on a gentler tone.

“You´re asking me this seriously, right? Like, honestly asking me?” Tony´s clearly embarrassed silence on the other end of the line was all the answer May needed.

“Tony…” How the heck could this man not see it? May was a little tempted to tease him and say something about how even genius billionaires struggled finding gifts for soon to be 16 year olds, but reasoned Tony probably already felt fuddled enough. It was better to get to the point anyway.

“I´m not really sure _how_ you haven´t noticed it before, but you`re probably the person he looks up to the most in the whole world. Scratch that, you totally are. And it`s not only because of the suits or the lab stuff or the technology or whatever. You`ve really helped him, both as Spiderman and his usual self. You literally have no idea how much it means to him to spend time with you.”

_And time is everything_, May thought a little sadly, looking across the kitchen to a small picture framed on the wall. In it, an 8 year old Peter gave a supremely satisfied gap-toothed grin from a man’s shoulders, while a much younger version of herself and her husband pulled funny faces at the camera.

“And I know that`s not really extremely helpful, but it`s true. Whether you give him something nerdy, something intricate…whatever you choose, just make sure it`s thought for him, all right? He`ll love it either way, that I can promise you”

There was a short silence from both sides as they each considered this, lost in their own thoughts.

“That´s…yeah. Okay. I´ll figure something out”

May´s smiled returned. “All right. And Stark?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For doing this for Peter. For everything you´ve done, really. I´m…I´m happy I don´t have to do this whole parenting thing alone”

They both ignored how Tony´s “Oh. Yeah, no problem” sounded slightly shaky, but Tony, for one, was glad May couldn´t see his expression over the phone.

He stood there thinking for a long time even after May and him had hung up, but try as he might he still couldn´t come up with anything concise enough. He still had plenty of time though, and although May hadn´t exactly given him an idea, he´d figure something out eventually. If there was anyone who could come up with a solution for any problem, it was him.

Feelings were a little more complicated than electrical engineering though. 

**********

He´s on the last step of the second floor when he hears the screaming.

Even from this distance he can tell it´s more than one person, but he´s been with Peter through enough nightmares to realize the screams belong to him.

Tony´s gauntlet´s already up and running before he can even fully process it as he immediately starts sprinting his way up the remaining floors until he gets to the Parker´s door, his senses screaming with urgency and his thoughts instantly becoming a somehow focused jumble of _get to Peter get to Peter_ and _shit shit what the hell shit Peter._ The door to their apartment looks just like it always does, but Tony can now hear the distinguished sound of terrified shrieking coming from inside.

_“getouTGETOUTGETOUT-MJ OPEN THE DOOR-NO WAIT WATCH THE LIGHTWATCHTELIGHT- SHIT- WAIT NONONO LOOK OUT-“_

And what seems to sound like…furniture crashing?

Tony swears again as he rushes forward to blast the lock open, but seconds before he can fire at it the door suddenly _swings_ open-

-and what seems to him like the_ fattest_ fucking wasp he´s ever seen in his life goes _hurling _past him-missing his head by inches- crashes onto the opposite wall, falls to the floor, twitches for a few seconds, and finally lays still, unmoving.

Tony blinks.

If he wasn´t so pumped with adrenaline from the stress of the last few seconds, he would be doubled over laughing his ass off at the scene he finds in front of him. Inside, he can see Ned´s eyes fearfully peeking out over the living room couch as he feebly waves around a bottle of bug spray. Peter´s standing on top of a table holding a broom, posture defensive but eyes wide and panic-stricken. May´s nowhere in sight. The only one out of all of them who doesn´t look like she´s watching the world come to a brutal and bloody end is MJ, face neutral as she looks almost boringly up at Tony, somehow totally unaffected by the whole spectacle, a flyswatter still raised in one hand.

“S´up Stark”

“…….uh”

All of them collectively wince as Peter swings his broom a little too close to the ceiling and a final light bulb shatters onto the floor.

**********

A couple of hours, one fixed light bulb, several slices of cake and a _whole lot of explanations_ later (Tony didn´t blame her, May had probably not counted on a gigantic wasp scaring the crap out of the kids in the fifteen minutes she´d stepped out to fetch Peter´s Spiderman birthday cake) the five of them were sitting comfortably around the living room, something prattling on the TV, watching as the newly turned 16 year old opened the presents everyone had given him.

True to his fan boy heart, most of Peter´s gifts were related to his undying love for music and Star Wars or other fandoms. Peter had screeched for an unholy half hour after Ned had given him a handmade remote control millennium falcon, which, even Tony had to admit, worked decently well for something a high schooler´d done.

He had to supress a laugh at the tiny squabble Peter and May´d had over it (“Peter, we _just _fixed the light bulb, if you start flying that thing around in here and break another one I swear to-““-but Aunt Mayyy! It´s the coolest thing in the _universe _I simply have to try it out-! _For science_!”)

MJ had burned a CD for him with enough Broadway musicals and 80´s music to satisfy even Peter´s love for them, along with a new pair of red and blue headphones. (She´d handed them to him nonchalantly, although Tony noticed something flickered across her eyes and a tiny smile grew on her lips when she saw the completely starry-eyed look Peter had when he tried out the earphones on his phone.)

According to Peter, May´d already given him “heaps of presents in the morning Aunt May, you really didn´t have to buy another one for me-““Oh shush and open it already will you, I want to see what you think of it”

It was a ceramic mug portraying a little cartoon Spiderman mid-swing, “Best son in the world” etched in big fancy letters. Peter looked somewhere in between embarrassed to death and deeply touched for a few seconds, but he set it down carefully and tackled May with a hug and a whispered _thank you _nonetheless_. _

Tony smiled along with the rest of them at the scene until he realized he was the only one left.

_Here goes nothing._

“All righty, guess there´s only me left then.” Tony said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, an effortless smile on his face. Peter wasn’t the only one out of all of them who looked genuinely surprised when he took out an elegant silver box and handed it to him. “Knock yourself out kid”

The kid´s bug eyes and absolute are-you-serious-this-is-the-freaking-greatest-day-of-my-life-I-would-lift-up-a-building-for-you expression helps something uncoil inside of him, and he lets out a breath he hadn´t realized he´d been holding when Peter´s eyes go even wider and his jaw practically falls off the floor as he opens up the box to find a specially modified stark industries digital camera. It´s a pretty neat piece of technology. He would know, he spent three months on the lens alone.

Peter´s starts stuttering so much he´s not even making clear noises anymore and looks just about ready to plop down dead there and then, but Tony´s not done surprising him yet.

“Oh no, this isn´t even the real present yet, though the camera´s yours if you want it.” He says with a shrug, though he can´t quite repress a smile as Peter makes a sort of choked gasp. “You might want to have a look at the picture inside the box though. It´s the little paper in there, you can´t miss it.”

Peter reaches towards the box while still holding the camera carefully, and he´s so confused when he sees the picture he manages to (kind of) get his voice back. “I-It´s a..is this supposed to be-it´s an empty room?” he squeaks out, brow furrowed uncertainly. Ned, MJ and May try to move over to get a look themselves, but they all see the same thing: a white-walled, completely unfurnished, totally empty room.

Tony grins. He knew he´d like this part. “Try shaking it”

Peter looks more bewildered than ever, but he does as he´s told, and the more he shakes the picture…

“_No way_”

“Whoa”

“Cool!”

…Tony gets to see something wholly wonderful and staggeringly astonished inside all four pairs of eyes as they see first random colours, then blobs and finally completely detailed shapes form out of nowhere in the frame when Peter´s done shaking it.

Everyone smiles disbelievingly at the picture and then up at Tony like he just pulled off the biggest magic trick in history, but Peter still looks confused. The once-empty room in the picture is now filled with comfy bean bags, Frisbees, plates and boxes upon boxes of stuff.

“These look like they´re for-”

“Relax, I know your apartment doesn´t allow dogs. But you practically live in the tower anyway, and there´s too many empty rooms. Modifying one to handle a dog was dead easy. We can hire someone to step in for you and take care of it while you´re gone, and you can come see it whenever you fancy. All the stuff in there should be suitable for any dog”

Peter´s head snapped up to look at him and Tony panicked, thinking he was going to refuse.

“There’s a very nice animal shelter down on 5th ,and if you´re up for the idea I can take you to choose one on friday but of course this is completely and utterly up to you and if you´d rather have something else I can-“

The sheer impact of Peter´s tackling bear like hug was almost enough to knock Tony over, but as it was he only got a surprisingly strong impact as an armful of laughing, teary eyed teenager threw himself at him.

_Thank god _

Peter pulled away just long enough to splutter out an “oh my god May can I?!”(May looked at Tony and smiled too. ”I don’t see why not”) and then proceeded to hug Tony tighter with an excited string of pretty much incoherent _ThankyousososomuchMrStark _´s and _Im getting a dog, Ned! A dog!!!_

Tony was suddenly caught up in the warmth of the moment as Peter´s contagious excitement got the better of everyone else and Ned squealed excitedly along with him and even MJ shook her head and covered a full on grin with her hand.

Hey, he’d made Peter happy.

There were few things in the world that could be worth more than that.

**Author's Note:**

> (*cough* I´m not outright saying my birthday wish because that´s THE big no-no when it comes to wishing but let´s just say it has to do with our wonderful spidey and MARVEL *cough* *cough*)  
Thank you for reading! :D  
I hope you all have wonderful, wasp-free birthdays!
> 
> Edit: thank you so so much for leaving kudos!!!! Woah didn't expect to get so many haH and my wish came true, SPIDEY'S BACK IN MARVEL FUDGE YEAH 
> 
> If anyone wants to leave a comment you would totally brighten up my day 10x I'm in dire need of human interaction yo 😂😅
> 
> But even if you don't it makes my heart really happy knowing you read this so thank you and hugs to all of u!!!💕💕💕


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